It’s been a year since the “shock heard ‘round the world” marked the most significant attack on the USA by a foreign government since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. And, thanks to the Free Press our enlightened Founders gave us, we are finally starting to understand the magnitude and depth of that attack.

Because of the diligence of reporters in our free press we now know that Russian propaganda supporting the candidacy of Donald Drumpf and aiming to undermine the candidacy of Hillary Clinton was “liked and shared” over 126 MILLION times on Facebook. It was almost certainly seen by a great many more than that because a lot of us were smart enough to recognize it for the lies it projected. We didn’t “like” it, and we sure as heck didn’t share it.

And, that’s just on Facebook. The number grows almost exponentially when one considers the Russians were also active on many other social networking platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Even Republicans admit Russia made extensive efforts to influence the outcome of the election, but claim there is no way to quantify the effect they achieved. I call “Scatological Debris of Bovine Origin” on that. Let’s just look at Facebook.

126 Million is roughly half the number of Americans who voted in the last election. Drumpf won the Electoral College vote by a total margin of less than 75,000 in the three states that swung the election. We don’t yet know the degree to which the Russians were able to target their attacks, or how they knew where to target them, but they needed to affect a total of only .0006% of the overall vote in the right places to change the outcome of the election.

It takes a massive degree of willful, intellectual dishonesty to summarily dismiss the possibility (PROBABILITY) that Russian propaganda and lies was able to suppress or change the vote of 1 in 15,000 people who were exposed to it. The Drumpf Presidency is the least legitimate since, at least, Reconstruction, if not in our history.

Of course, Drumpf, and his enablers in the GOP (Government of Putin until they respond to the attack) deny this vehemently, and are doing everything they can to impede investigations into what really happened in the 2016 elections.

Fortunately we still have that Free Press our Founders bestowed on us. And, we have Robert Mueller.

Could write these things daily there is so much absurdity going on......

"Our Little Donnie.........."

I was the drum major of the marching band when I was in high school. We had a joke about the new kids in the band who couldn’t quite yet get the hang of marching, and how oblivious their parents were about it. “Oh look. Can you believe everybody in the band is marching out of step except our little Donnie?”

There’s a lot of that kind of willful refusal to recognize reality going on in this country today, starting at the top. David Corn of Mother Jones described it this way, “CIA Chief Mike Pompeo – Putin attacked the 2016 election, DNI Dan Coats – Putin attacked the 2016 election, FBI Director Christopher Wray – Putin attacked the 2016 election, NSA head Mike Rogers – Putin attacked the 2016 election, Putin – I did not attack the 2016 election, Drumpf – I believe Putin”.

“Everyone’s out of step but my little Vlad.”

These are all heads of intelligence agencies appointed by Drumpf, and they are unanimous in their convictions. He later walked it back, somewhat, by saying “As to whether I believe it, I’m with our agencies. As currently led by fine people, I believe very much in our intelligence agencies.”

Of course, these agencies “currently led by fine people” are reporting the exact same information they have been reporting since before those “fine people” (Drumpf has a thing for “fine people”, doesn’t he?) took the helms at their respective agencies. But, those previous leaders were “political hacks” performing a “Democratic hit job”. Same exact information, completely different take. “Everybody is out of step…..”

The willful refusal to recognize reality is not limited to our President. The fish may rot from the head down, but close to a third of our fellow countrymen subscribe to the same distorted views as their leader.

It is rare to get unvarnished truth from a Republican member of Congress, but that is exactly what we got recently from Rep. Chris Collins of NY. When asked why he supports the Republican tax plan that has less than 25% support from the American people, he said, “My donors are basically saying, ‘Get it done or don’t ever call me again’”. Several other GOP (currently the Government of Putin) Reps and Senators have reported the same thing.

Make no mistake, the tax plan being railroaded through Congress with few or no hearings and discussion is an overt act of class warfare. It is a Robin Hood in reverse, massive transfer of wealth from those in the middle and lower quintiles of American economic status into the pockets and offshore accounts of those at the very top. And Republicans are not even trying to hide those facts.

They understand even though it might cost them their majority in Congress in 2018, and maybe the Presidency in 2020, it will drive the American economy into the ditch just at the time they can blame the Democrats for the problems it creates. It happened with the Bush tax cuts and with the Reagan trickle-down debacle before that. Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

This plan will blow an even bigger hole in the deficit than already exists. This will allow them to continue their assault on the New Deal and Great Society programs that created the American middle class. “Starve the Beast” has been the GOP (you know) mantra for generations.

They have included some provisions that on first perusal look as if they are aimed to help middle and lower class Americans, but deeper scrutiny shows them to be blatantly intended to fool non-critical thinkers in their base. All one needs to know about that is, small tax breaks to the middle class are temporary but massive tax breaks to corporations and the rich are permanent.

Here are just a couple, among thousands, of the reverse Robin Hood provisions in this monstrosity:Interest on student loans is not deductible, but tuition for private schooling is.Teacher’s costs for supplies they buy out of their own pockets (how screwed up is that to begin with?) are not deductible, but expenses for private jets are.Etc., etc., etc.

And amidst all this squabbling about finances, presidential pardons, war in Syria, sexual harrassment - NOBODY seems aware of the fact that we are FAST approaching various limits that determine whether humans will be able to survive on this planet.

According to very recent data - it's too late to save New Orleans due to sea levels bound to raise over what is possible to countermand in protecting the city. Some 120 cities in U.S.A only, may find that it is too late for them to be saved from raising sea levels. This all due to human produced CO2 emissions.

The total amount (in sheer numbers) of insects around the world, is falling rapidly. So fast, in fact, that scientists speak of a prelude to an "ecological harmageddon". This due to a combination of rapid climate change and toxic substances from pesticides and fertilizers.

The total amount of vertebrates in earth's oceans, is HALVED since the beginning of 1970's. All marine life in the oceans is about halved. The numbers are plunging.

Humanity is not acting to turn any of these trends; instead people like The Grabber and his associates behave like spoiled, mentally deprived five-year-olds. We are at a critical phase in the history of mankind, and people rave about Black Fridays, next flight to another vacation resort, and take their car to work as usual.

The next shoe dropped in the Mueller investigation when fired National Security Advisor Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. This puts the investigation deep into the White House itself, and the noose grows ever tighter on the criminal enterprise being run out of it. * * * There was much jubilation amongst Republicans when they rammed their abomination of a tax give-away through the Senate in the middle of the night with no hearings or debate what-so-ever. Amusingly, it is much like the Rose Garden celebration they threw when the House passed its version of their Obamacare “repeal and replace” bill. They seem to have forgotten this hurdle doesn’t make this atrocity law.

The bill must be reconciled between the House and Senate, and there is already growing discord between the GOP (currently the Government of Putin/ Predators) caucuses in the respective bodies. That, combined with the growing distaste of the American people for the monstrosity as they learn what is actually in it, may make it as impossible to pass as was the “repeal and replace” disgrace. * * *North Korea successfully launched a missile capable of hitting mainland USA. It is unknown if they are yet capable of matching it with one of their nuclear war heads, but, even so, more and more elected MOC are blowing the bugles of war about the confrontation. Make no mistake, should war be initiated in Korea it will not be, just as it wasn’t in Iraq, the No. Koreans who fire the first shot. * * * There doesn’t appear to be a bottom on the depravity of today’s Republican Party. On Tuesday, voters in Alabama will go to the polls to choose a Senator to replace Jeff Sessions. The choices are Doug Jones and Roy Moore.

Jones is a former prosecutor with a string of high profile convictions, including the two KKK scumbags responsible for killing four young women in the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Moore is a judge who was, TWICE, removed from the Alabama Supreme Court for violating the rule of law, and who now stands credibly accused of multiple incidents of Sexual Abuse of a Minor.

We will see then whether the “Resistance”, “Indivisible” and other groups that have sprung up in response to the lack of integrity and unethical behavior of the President and his Party are real and are going to make a real difference in this country.

I am getting old. On my next birthday I will lose my private insurance and sign up for Medicare. Fortunately for me, my private insurance then becomes my Medicare supplemental insurance (I have had the blessing in this life of the support, guidance, and protection of a strong union, an advantage anyone who is not wealthy should be provided, but……). But, that is a topic for another column.

My point is, for the entirety of my long life, and for the better part of a half-century before I was born, one organization has been recognized in the eyes of the American people as the absolute paragon of “Truth, Justice, and the American Way”. Multiple TV shows and movies have depicted them as the ultimate “good guys” in our society.

That is, until the last 3 months or so. Those seeking to protect the on-going criminal enterprise being run out of the White House are now wrongly, politically, defaming them. I am speaking, of course, about the FBI, and, specifically, two of its former Directors.

On the other side of that coin, another truth for the entirety of my life is there has been one, singular major geo-political entity that has been considered the enemy of my country. Since the overthrow of the Czars in 1917, with the exception of WWII, Russia has been, in the eyes of the American people, the ultimate “bad guys” opposed to our society. The last time American citizens were executed for treason, mere months after I was born, it was for conspiring with Russians.

At least, that was true until about a year ago. Then, as evidence of a massive electronic attack on our elections by the Russians began to be uncovered, the “good guys” at the FBI took on the mission of uncovering and exposing how and to what degree the “bad guys”, Russia, had succeeded in their attack, and whether they had help and/ or guidance from anyone here in this country.

Now, among a hard core, but diminishing, segment of our population, up has become down. The “good guys” are now the “bad guys”, and the “bad guys” are now the “good guys”. We have a President whose chief advisor is an avowed Leninist, who is savagely attacking the FBI and refuses to say anything detrimental about Putin or Russia.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but the thought of an auto mall project along I-4 in Deland seems like a really bad idea to me. It’s not so much that I have a problem with the concept so much as I have a problem with what are we left with if/ when it doesn’t work. One need only look at the dead space on I-4 going into Sanford to get my point.

Once the land has been configured for an automall it is virtually useless for any other form of utilization without massively expensive de/re-construction. Should the management of the automall project prove to be less than stellar at running a project of that size, does Deland really need/ want such a large network of parking lots and pavement in an area that has so little other commercial activity/ viability?

And that’s if the concept doesn’t succeed. What are we left with if it does? Auto dealerships are not the sort of businesses that create a symbiotic relationship that will bring other commercial vitality to that area. People don’t really plan a meal or a movie or to buy a new sweater or purse when they are going out to buy a car.

What will this development mean for the Woodland corridor between Deland and Orange City? It is already awash with car dealerships, both new and used. What becomes of those properties once the automall is open and operating? The location of the Honda dealership that moved south several years ago remains vacant.

What becomes of the current Ford, Dodge, Nissan, etc. properties when they either move to or are put out of business by the Mall? They are no more easily converted to other use than was the Honda space. Does Deland really want to become the “Buy here, Pay here, ” used car capitol of Volusia county? That’s not an idle question. Those spaces have little other commercial value as currently configured. Where is the saturation point?

Smart development and growth are an integral aspect of a community’s success. While I certainly understand the economies of scale the auto dealers might recognize by implementing this Automall project, I have to ask, “Is this an example of ‘smart development and growth’ for Deland?” I have serious reservations.

Sometimes community consciousness of quality of life wins out over developer’s greed but often times it doesn’t.

Baron - this fits closely into many of the themes I write about, so it is certainly appropriate in this thread, though not particularly currently relevant. THis would be a great topic for another thread. It certainly addresses a number of issues relevant to today;s political climate here in the good ol' US of A.

I mentioned an example of unvarnished truth from an elected Republican in a recent column. There have recently been a few more examples.

I have two specific instances in mind, both regarding the abomination that is the “Job Cuts and Tax (Giveaway) Act”. The first is from our own Senator, Marco Rubio.

In an interview with the News-Press, “LittleMarco” said, “We probably went a little too far on (helping) corporations”. Gee, ya think?

He goes on, “By and large, you’re going to see a lot of these multi-nationals buy back shares to drive up the price. Some of them will be forced, because they are sitting on historic levels of cash, to pay out dividends to share holders.”

“THAT ISN’T GOING TO CREATE DRAMATIC ECONOMIC GROWTH”. No kidding. It never has, and it never will.

On the day after the bill was signed, a handful of corporations came out and said they would be giving out bonuses and raises. The President pointed to this as if it justified his monstrosity.

Because those programs were drawn and ready to go on day one, it actually showed there was collusion between the White House and the leadership of those corporations. If you look at the list, every one of those corporations has an issue pending before the government that Drumpf has the power to approve or deny.

Whether those announcements were the result of extortion by the President, or bribery by the corporations is irrelevant. In either case it is indicative of massive corruption.

Those bonuses were an example of the bait and switch in the bill. The benefit to poor, working schmucks is front-loaded and temporary, while the benefits to the corporations are delayed and permanent.

As Rubio said, later, “If….I don’t think it’ll actually cut my taxes and I get my first paycheck in February and it has $200 in there that didn’t used to be there, I’m going to notice that.” I doubt many will see a $200 increase, but, it’s just part of the con. "You give us $Billions and we’ll throw a few crumbs to the peons."

The second moment of truth came from the President himself. Not to the press, or to an interviewer. No, the first absolute truth Donald Drumpf has uttered since assuming the Presidency was spoken to his peers at their enclave in Mir-A-Lago.

“I just made you folks a whole lot richer”. And, there, in a nutshell is the “Job Cuts and Tax (Giveaway) Act”.

This week a new expose on the Drumpf White House by writer Michael Wolff called “Fire and Fury” hit the news. Excerpts I have seen, and the reviews I have read, lead me to believe the book is probably poorly written and edited.

There's nothing new in this book. A few details MAY be wrong, but the overall picture it paints doesn't add anything that hasn't been blatantly obvious to anyone who is paying attention and isn't intellectually compromised.

Wolff was granted surprising access to the West Wing of the White House for extended periods over the course of many months. He claims to have done over 200 interviews of staff and White House principals, including he President himself. The quotes making the most waves came from the President’s ex-Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon.

But, nothing Bannon is reported to have said is anything not already public knowledge. And, while clarifying his statements somewhat, he has not denied any of them.

HE claimed the meeting with the Russian lawyers in Drumpf Towers was "treasonous and unpatriotic". No kidding. Anyone with knowledge of the last 100 years of geopolitical history knew that.

Another Bannon gem was Mueller's take down of the President and his crime syndicate is going to be for money laundering, not collusion. DUH!. No kidding.

The former advisor is also not enamored of the Drumpf offspring, claiming that Mueller is going to “crack Don Jr. like an egg on national TV” and Ivanka is "dumb as a brick".

The White House has pushed back vehemently against the book, with the President’s legal team attempting to stop the publication with one of the President’s lame “cease and desist” law suit threats. In response, the publisher moved up the release date, and the book rocketed to the top of the best-seller charts in a couple of days, a jump of over 40,000 places.

The book was apparently rushed to publication. There are factual mistakes in the narratives, none which bear on the legitimacy of the overall message of the tome. No one who is quoted in the book has come forward to deny any of the revelations contained in it.

The gist of the book is, Drumpf is a middle school bully with the intellectual capacity, curiosity, and attention span of a 5 year old and is mentally unfit to hold the office.

There is an analysis of the intellectual level of the conversations of Presidents since Hoover. Most talk at the 7-9 grade level. Up to now Truman was the lowest talking at a mid 5th grade level. Trump is early 4th grade. The difference between Trump and Truman is larger than any two other adjacent Presidents.

Just for comparison, Obama talked as a mid 9th Grader. Reagan was higher. Eisenhower and Hoover were at the highest levels at nearly 12th Grade.

Now talking at a 4th Grade level is not necessarily bad; especially if you have a valid argument to project. But I haven't seen any consistency from Trump on anything. It's really sad. Bigly sad.

There is an analysis of the intellectual level of the conversations of Presidents since Hoover. Most talk at the 7-9 grade level. Up to now Truman was the lowest talking at a mid 5th grade level. Trump is early 4th grade. The difference between Trump and Truman is larger than any two other adjacent Presidents.

Just for comparison, Obama talked as a mid 9th Grader. Reagan was higher. Eisenhower and Hoover were at the highest levels at nearly 12th Grade.

Now talking at a 4th Grade level is not necessarily bad; especially if you have a valid argument to project. But I haven't seen any consistency from Trump on anything. It's really sad. Bigly sad.

Interesting ...

One thing that seems pretty clear here--the other presidents were almost certainly speaking more plainly to try and ensure clarity and comprehensibility, whereas the cartoon president just speaks at his own actual level. To adjust your speech as the other presidents have requires awareness and conscientiousness, neither of which The Donald has demonstrated any ability of inclination to apply.

Logged

- Feeding a troll just gives it a platform and amplifies its voice.

- Science is what we have learned about how to keep from fooling ourselves. - Richard Feynman- He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool. - Confucius

There has been much “to do” about the “dossier” compiled by retired British Intelligence Agent Christopher Steele (I wonder if he had a 00? number) while investigating ties between the Drumpf campaign/ administration and the Russian government. Republicans have, unsuccessfully, done everything they can to invalidate the dossier, but it is still one of the best windows into where the Mueller investigation is headed.

Originally commissioned by Republican “OPPO” researchers for Drumpf’s opponents in the Primary, FUSION GPS, who hired Steele, was later employed by the Clinton campaign for the general election. Nothing nefarious there, opposition research has long been standard fare in political campaigns.

But, because of what the investigation by Steele uncovered, Republicans are virtually rabid in their attempts to discredit and suppress the materials contained in it. Glenn Simpson, founder of Fusion GPS has tesitified, under oath, in three closed Congressional hearings as to the evolution of the dossier. The Republican chairs of those committees have refused to release transcripts of those hearings.

Because Republicans were leaking selective and misleading information from their testimony, Fusion GPS requested the complete transcripts be released. In an act of public service Heroism, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of Ca. unilaterally released the transcript of the testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Chairs of the House and Senate Intelligence committees continue to stonewall, despite the requests from Fusion.

The truth is coming out, and it is a far different picture than the one being drawn by the GOP (Government of Putin/ Predators). First, and most prominent, the dossier WAS NOT the instigating event that triggered the FBI investigation. It is now known it was initiated after a Drumpf advisor had a little too much to drink with an Australian diplomat and spoke a little too clearly.

Or, possibly, the FBI had a volunteer walk-in from the campaign who was aghast at the treasonous nature of the Russian contacts. Either way, it is abundantly clear the dossier, none of which has yet been convincingly debunked, was merely corroborating evidence, not the hatchet job Republicans would like you to believe.

Steele, after consulting with Simpson and Fusion, went to the FBI because he felt he was uncovering crimes that were a “threat to national security” and he was professionally obligated to bring it to the attention of law enforcement.

Here is a link to a synopsis of the testimony by lawyer/ CEO Elizabeth C McLaughlin. It is well worth the read.

Over this past weekend we were graced with a short-term shutdown of the Federal government because Congress couldn’t get it together to pass a bill to fund the government.

Republicans are blaming the Democrats, and Democrats are blaming Republicans and the President. While there is plenty of blame to go around, the Republicans DO control the Presidency and BOTH Houses of Congress. They warrant most of the blame.

The lion’s share should go to the President himself, who reneged on several deals he made during the process, and an ex-Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, who passed a rule for Republicans requiring a “majority of the majority” to pass any legislation through the House. Do you remember how many times Speaker John Boehner made deals with President Obama only to renege when he found the far–right “Freedom” caucus fringe in his party wouldn’t back him?

The same thing happened this time, only it was the President that caved to the fringe. At least twice.

Drumpf, with great “I am the deal maker” fanfare, held a large, bi-partisan meeting on immigration in which he allowed the press and cameras to remain in the room for the duration. At the end of the meeting he told the participants, “work out a deal, and I will sign it.”

That is EXACTLY what was done. Senators Dick Durbin (D) and Leslie Graham (R) came to the White House with a bi-partisan deal expecting the President to live up to his commitment.

Instead, they were met in the office by two of the fringe members of Congress. The President reneged on his promise, and uttered his ugly, unfortunate “S**t hole/ house” comment that will dog American international relations for the remainder of his Presidency.

Then, on Friday, the President sat in his office with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and their aids. At the end there was an agreement to avoid the shutdown. Two hours later the White House, after the President had succumbed, once again, to the right-wing fringe, canceled the agreement.

On Monday Democrats, the adults in the room, allowed the government to be re-opened for 3 weeks based on promises from Congressional leaders rather than the President. Then, we’ll be right back where we were Friday, knowing whether the Republican leaders are any more honest than the President.

I think the unrealistic expectations are on both sides. This morning, one of the Massachusetts congressmen who voted against the bill said he thought they could get a full budget over the weekend. A full budget? We can't get one over the course of a full year. How are we going to do it over a weekend?

The President reneged on his promise, and uttered his ugly, unfortunate “S**t hole/ house” comment that will dog American international relations for the remainder of his Presidency.

Meh. Trump has said/done so many outlandish things at this point, for the sake of his party, and none of his party have held him accountable for them. For a man who plays only to his base, only his base matters.

Then, on Friday, the President sat in his office with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and their aids. At the end there was an agreement to avoid the shutdown. Two hours later the White House, after the President had succumbed, once again, to the right-wing fringe, canceled the agreement.

Well, no. There wasn't an agreement to avoid the shutdown between schumer and trump, nor could there be. There are more players involved.

On Monday Democrats, the adults in the room, allowed the government to be re-opened for 3 weeks based on promises from Congressional leaders rather than the President. Then, we’ll be right back where we were Friday, knowing whether the Republican leaders are any more honest than the President.

Think the outcome will be any different?

The democrats did what the democrats do, and caved quickly and readily... for nothing in return. We will not compromise! We must get this! Oh, we can't get that? Then we'll just give you what you want. At the same time, they passed a CR that was a bit more than a CR, offering up tens of billions more in tax cuts, a 7 year extension to CHIP, and other domestic changes.

I become a true “senior citizen” on my next birthday. For the first 63 years of my life the Republican Party was, or, at least, claimed to be, the party of “law and order” and “national security”. If you had tried to tell a Republican that the FBI was filled with criminals or that Russia was our friend they would have laughed at you, if they didn’t punch you in the face.

Today, Republican’s position is that the FBI is filled with criminals and that Russia is our friend. You couldn’t make this stuff up. No one would believe it if you made it into a movie. The plot line would be too stupid for people to believe. Well, thinking people, anyway.

I’ll give you a little hint. Neither the FBI nor Russia has changed in even the minutest detail. The FBI is still filled with some of the most ethical human beings of the highest integrity our society has to offer, and the Russians are still the biggest threat to our sovereignty on the planet. Well, next to our own President.

No, it is the Republican Party that has gone off the rails on the crazy train. The latest evidence is the memo they are making such a big deal about. We’re talking about a memo written by a Republican Congressman and his staff based on cherry-picked, classified information from the re-authorization of a FISA court warrant.

These theatrics are an attempt to distract from the FACT the Mueller investigation is circling ever closer to the President himself, and to minimize the effect of whatever the investigation eventually turns up. Critically thinking people aren’t buying it.

The attacks on the FBI are the result of people projecting their own lack of integrity and moral compasses onto it. It is how they would behave were they in the role of the FBI. It is not a reflection of reality.

I have known many FBI agents. Their integrity and ethics are beyond reproach, and the further up the hierarchy one of them climbs, the more that is true. That is a FACT.

That said, I will admit the FBI probably DOES have a bias against this President. But, it is not political in nature. It is the same bias they have always had. In the past that bias was against names like John Gotti, Bernie Madoff, Aldrich Ames, and Al Capone.